Sunday, April 24, 2016

Let's chat about what's going on this week... on my blog.. on other blogs... on the internet... and just everywhere! I link up my post to Sunday Post hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Reader.Two Sunday posts in one month?? I'm on a roll. Warm weather is here so I planted a ton of grass seed... so much winter kill. I get winter kill every year despite all the efforts I make to make it not happen. Sigh. I'm excited though to get a lot of use out of my backyard this year. Tonight is the premier of Game of Thrones. So ready. Though.. technically I still have a lot of shows on my DVR to watch but they'll get pushed back. I have started playing The Division on PS4. I kind of got sucked into it by a friend but I am really starting to enjoy it, especially since I've been pushing other friends into playing. We of course have our tickets to the IMAX Civil War movie coming up. We've been going through all the movies to get ready for it (the Captain America movies and Avenger movies). I participated in Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon. It was ok... it's gotten so big though. I didn't really have any interaction with other bloggers this time around, not even my cheerleader. So that was kind of a bummer. I've seriously been into coloring lately. It actually is kind of relaxing. I have a Star Wars coloring book, Harry Potter coloring book, Enchanted Forest and a Secret Garden book. I really want to try out these water color pencils I keep hearing about, but haven't found any yet to buy. I might just have to order them through Prime. It was hard enough for me to find a 72 pack. I read this article recently that coloring is so popular right now that colored pencil factories are having a hard time keeping up with the sales!

Saturday, April 23, 2016

I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post. So I thought I would review several comics on one post. I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.Honestly... I can't believe Comic Adventures has published 40 issues!! I mean... WOW! I've read a lot of comics. Every time I say I am going to quit reading comics a new one comes into the library and I get super excited and read it. This issue I review The Flash Vol. 7 Savage World, He-Man Eternity War Vol. 1,Batgirl Vol. 2 Family Business, and Batman/Superman Vol 4 Siege.

I have really enjoyed the Flash comics in the New 52. This comic was entertaining. Savage World refers to the speed force world. Berry Allen flew through a rip in the time to the speed force world that has robots, dinosaurs, savages, and a jungle. Back in the real world... our time.. A future Berry has come to correct all the mistakes his current Berry made. For example, not catching a certain villain who kills a lot of people. The future Berry thinks by killing these villains he will save the world. The two story lines worked together pretty well. There is even a page that mixes the two Flash in one drawing with similar things happening to both of them. so half the page is red Flash and the other half is blue Flash (the future Flash has a blue outfit). A great classic Flash villain shows up leading into the next volume. I am super excited about this villain since they are currently being explored in the Flash CW show. The end of the book has a great origin story about Flash, what happens to his mother and father and how he receives his powers. 5 out of 5

These He-Man comics are so great!! She-Ra being badass is like my dream come true. The art is great. The snake race looks really cool. Hordak has now taken over Castle Greyskull. So He-Man, She-Ra and Teela have to fight him to get it back. Teela is now the Sorceress... a snake sorceress. The comic explains more about the sorceresses in the world of He-Man. I had no idea there could be different ones. There were two huge rubies that used to sit in the eyes of the skull on Castle Greyskull that have a lot of power so everyone is a in a race to find them. Skeletor makes a new appearance in this comic... in a humorous way. I actually laughed out loud. His character is explored a lot more in the comics. I love when villains tell us why they are villains. These comics are so fun. I'm afraid Eternity War vol. 2 is going to be the last in DC's revamp of He-Man. I'm so disappointed in that. This series deserves so much more love. 5 out of 5

I almost didn't read this comic because I couldn't stand Batgirl vol. 1. I just thought it was so immature. Yes... I know they were going for a teen audience but it was just too far. I like Batgirl a lot though so I thought I would give it another go-round. I am glad I did. I ended up enjoying this volume like a Saturday morning cartoon. So in another DC comic Batman is killed off (OK yeah that's a spoiler but comics are like soap operas, he won't stay dead. A whole new series will come along and kill him/bring him back... blah blah). Anyways... Batman dies so Gordon decides to be Batman. So that story line is kind of short... I thought it would be most of the comic. BUT... the comic is like crossover after crossover. Grayson shows up, Gotham Academy, the new Black Canary series (where she's a rock star), and so on. Honestly though.. this is a series DC needs to just let go. And with the whole DC Rebirth coming out I am sure this is one comic that is going to go to the side. I think the new Batgirl is called Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Rebirth and I am looking forward to Batgirl being mature again. Oh wait... I just looked it up and there is going to be a stand alone Batgirl. But it won't be apart of this series and I'm glad.
2 out of 5

I have enjoyed the Batman/Superman series a lot. This comic was fun to me. There was some really good artwork in this too. Very creative pages. The story is about a phantom zone baddie coming to earth and getting superman to lose his powers and be just a human. The weapon the villain uses really surprised me. I didn't know if it was funny or serious. I laughed... I'll admit it. Superman has a new "flash power" that can take out Doomsday's fires. So when he uses it he loses all his powers for like 24 hours. So he and Batman have to team up and figure things out. Then... we meet Superman's Joker. I am not really sure this guy measures to Joker... that name is too far! No one can live up to Joker. I've never read Future's End but the end of this volume includes a story from that universe.

I am excited to be participating in Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-thon. This is going to be quite an adventure. There are all kinds of fun things happening today. I will update here all day so get ready. I have no shame to start late. Yes I know it's 10 am my time and in my time zone I should've started at 6. But alas I didn't go to be so early last night. I'm ready to go now!

I will be updating a lot on Twitter. My Twitter handler is @KingmodOpening Meme:

What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I am reading from the state of Colorado! Hopefully I meet some other bloggers from Colorado today.

Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? Honestly I am looking forward to Winter the most. I have been wanting to read that for a long long time now.

Which snack are you most looking forward to? So technically I didn't buy any special snacks for the event. I am going to eat just whatever is in the house. Oh and of course lots of Mountain Dew.

Tell us a little something about yourself! I love to read! I love to play video games, watch movies, watch TV. I just love entertainment. Some people look down on all that and act like people sit in front of the TV too much but I also love to be outside, go hiking, camping, so you can love both worlds.

If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? I've done this in the past twice I think. There really is nothing I can do different. The nighttime is when it gets hard for me. I don't think there is anyway I can stay up all night but we'll see.

Update 2:

Currently Reading: Winter by Marissa MeyerBooks Finished: NonePages Read: 300Amount of Time Spent Reading: 3 hoursSnacks: None yet... but I did go eat at Village Inn this morning which cut into reading time. Where are you reading: Outside by the fire pit. It was really nice out there but the wind got crazy so I had to come inside. Bleh. Challenges I participated in: Hour 11... road trip with a literary figure.

Here are some of my instagram pictures so far... be sure to stop by there and check out my books!

Monday, April 18, 2016

In his international blockbusters The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown masterfully fused history, art, codes, and symbols. In this riveting new thriller, Brown returns to his element and has crafted his highest-stakes novel to date.
In the heart of Italy, Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces . . . Dante’s Inferno.
Against this backdrop, Langdon battles a chilling adversary and grapples with an ingenious riddle that pulls him into a landscape of classic art, secret passageways, and futuristic science. Drawing from Dante’s dark epic poem, Langdon races to find answers and decide whom to trust . . . before the world is irrevocably altered.

Honestly... I love Dan Brown's Robert Langdon books. I have discovered that these books follow the same format though. Very similar to the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich which repeats the same template over and over. Dan Brown's books do go a little overboard describing everything in so much detail. I love art so I enjoy reading Brown's descriptions of art. I even googled some to see what the art/buildings really looked like but that got tiresome. Brown's book should come illustrated all the time as first editions, not just special editions years after the book as been published. I read the book I already owned which I purchased when it first came out so I didn't get the illustrated. From now on I'm going to wait to buy his book until the illustrated is released. I have The Da Vinci Code and Angel's and Demons illustrated editions and they are totally worth it.

So this particular Robert Langdon book is about how he wakes up in a hospital after being shot in the head and can't remember a thing. He begins to figure out that there is a plague that is going to be released on the world. The plague was created by a man who believes that over population is what is going to destroy the world. Honestly the more I read the details about overpopulation in this book the more it scared me. Are the facts true about how fast we are growing and using up resources in the book true? I don't know. But if it is that is a scary statistic. Where will the plague be released and can it be stopped becomes Langdon's mission in this book. Since Langdon has lost his memory with short term amnesia we are the readers get to go along this adventure with him and try to figure things out.

This book's mysteries are mainly based off the Divine Comedy "Dante's Inferno" by Dante Alighieri. I had never give The Divine Comedy much thought prior to this book. I didn't even really know what it was about. This book opened that whole world to me. I need to read that book soon. The book sounds fascinating to me and of course it's free to read in the public domain.

There is a movie in the works for this book. I'm surprised they just skipped over The Lost Symbol but there was a big profit drop between The Da Vinci Code movie and the Angels and Demons movie. Originally, Inferno was supposed to come out in 2015 but got pushed back to October 2016. I hope it's successful, a lot of times when a movie is pushed back it's because it wasn't very good and then the movie studios try to fix it up. I am not sure when Dan Brown's next book will come out. I have looked around for any hints or information but haven't found any.

If you like Dan Brown's previous books you'll like this book. If you think the books are cheesy writing, and you roll your eyes, well it's not for you. I like fluff books sometimes. Books were I can just enjoy the ride. I can't wait for the next Robert Langdon book.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post. So I thought I would review several comics on one post. I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.This issue I chat about Grayson Vol. 2 We All Die At Dawn, Catwoman Vol 7 Inheritance, Ms. Marvel vol 4, and Star Wars: Kanan Vol. 1.

I didn't really enjoy Grayson Vol. 1 but when I read it Vol 1 had already come in from the library so I went ahead and read it. We kind of delve into the big Spyral spy ring. I'm a little confused though about the main parts... so Grayson and his crew are running around trying to find body parts for Spyral. Turns out these body parts make a big villain ... and from each body part there is a Justice League member. So the eyes are Aquaman's for example.... what I don't understand and is never mentioned is whether or not the organs are actually from the real superheroes? And honestly... does it even matter now since DCs new Rebirth is coming out? There is a character in these comics called Midnighter and I am really interested in who this guy is. In the Rebirth he is getting his own comic so I put it on hold and am excited to check that one out. There is a Grayson volume 3 coming out but I am going to skip that one. That is really tough for me because I am the type of person who needs to complete series but I just can't keep going. At least Nightwing is coming back in the Rebirth.2 out of 5

I think Catwoman hasn't been great the last few issues. This whole mob thing is just annoying. I just realized that I may have accidentally not read Volume 6. Damn it. I hate when that happens. Well apparently it's about the mob so I'm not going back to read it. What's crazy is that I went back and read my review about Volume 5 and said I wasn't going to read Catwoman anymore. Well.... guess I forgot about that. I'm not into the comics that are about crime. I want superheroes. I miss the earlier issues of Catwoman. It seems like she is leaving Gotham for Volume 8 so I don't know what to expect. Maybe I am just burned out on comics lately. That could be it because this comic has a high rating on goodreads. I guess that it was neat to learn about the different Gotham crime families. But I want to see Catwoman stealing, being naughty. I didn't love the artwork either. The next volume has a different author so hopefully it goes in a totally different direction. EDIT: I just looked at my library and the reason I read this before vol. 6 is because my library ordered this one first. Ughhh3 out of 5

Just when I think I am done with comics and they suck I read a comic like this one and fall right back in love. Ms. Marvel is an amazing series. I have been impressed with it since volume 1. So finally Ms. Marvel gets to meet Captain Marvel whom she fangirls over all the time. What I really LOVE about this comic book series is that it is cohesive. Volume 4 Last Days follows the pervious volumes perfectly. There is no drastic change in the character, no wacko big switch up of the plot. The side characters have really been fleshed out so we still care about them. This comic is about the world ending which everyone in the comic keeps calling a zombie apocalypse, so funny. Maybe I am just bored with DC (see my previous reviews) and need to move on to more Marvel titles. There is even a little Spiderman story in this that read so well. I want to pick up a Spiderman title soon because of it. I am still really impressed by the artist of the comic as well. Just matches Ms. Marvel's personality. Funny little things you can find throughout the panels in the comic. Pick up this series if you haven't yet.
5 out of 5

Wow. This was super good. I didn't know what to expect from this comic. I had no idea who Kanan was before reading it. Turns out he is a guy from the show Rebels. I decided not to watch that show because the last Star Wars cartoon I watched, Clone Wars, was canceled by Cartoon Network in the middle of the series. It was finished eventually on Netflix but I was over it by then. So to be honest I was very apprehensive about starting Rebels so I just didn't start it. This comic of course makes me want to watch it. This was a great story about a young Jedi who is a Padawan during the Clone Wars. I loved it... the characters are just so great and well written. I think the Star Wars comics have been only OK so far but this was a good one. Maybe because it's a completely new story where the other ones I've read are characters we already know from the movies. If you are looking to start somewhere in the newer Marvel Star Wars comics this is one to begin at.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Let's chat about what's going on this week... on my blog.. on other blogs... on the internet... and just everywhere! I link up my post to Sunday Post hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Reader.Holy smokes I haven't done a Sunday Post in a long long time. Everything around here is going well. I am quite excited for Spring. This was a really nice weekend here. A few weeks ago I planted some seeds (peas, lettuce, cabbage) and got some new manure in the garden. I've also already mowed the lawn once and it's do for another. I just love yard work. Last week we attended a fantastic Broadway show Newsies. My husband is obsessed with that movie.. it's OK to me. The Broadway show though was fantastic. The next show we are going to is the Beauty and The Beast Broadway show. There are a few more shows I would like to see but I can only get my husband to go to so many. The show I am dying to see of course is Hamilton. I hope that starts traveling soon and comes through my city.

Perhaps the greatest mystery novel of all time, And then there were none is Agatha Christie's acclaimed masterpiece of murder and suspense. Ten strangers are gathered together on an isolated island by a mysterious host. One by one, the guests share the darkest secrets of their wicked pasts. And one by one, they die ...

I have discovered that I love Agatha Christie! This was my second book of hers and it was great. I am a huge fan of the game Clue. I had no idea until my sister told me that Clue is based off this book! So then I really had to read it. I had been kind of putting off reading it but then Lifetime recently aired the miniseries based on the book and so I really wanted to read the book before watching it.

Clue the movie

So in the book there are 10 people invited to a mysterious island from someone that they all think they know. They all get to this island and start meeting each other. While talking a record player starts talking and announcing that each person in the room is a murderer. The record player says each person's name and who they supposedly killed. Right after this happens someone dies .. just falls over in the room and after that the body count doesn't stop. The guests of the house start trying to figure out who is murdering everyone, they start turning on each other, teaming up with each other just to figure out what exactly is going on. I of course never guessed who did it... I swear I am the worst at mysteries. I don't really do a lot of mysteries so I really haven't caught on how to pick up the clues to figure things out. But I plan on reading a lot more mysteries.

The book is certainly a product of it's time. Turns out that in the UK the book was originally called Ten Little Nword (the name of the poem) but of course that was racist so then the US called it Ten Little Indians which of course was eventually considered racist. Soooo the title was changed to And Then There Were None and the poem name was changed to Ten Little Soldiers (though my old copy still had it called Ten Little Indians). While reading... I did write down the characters and who they were to keep them straight. I thought this was really helpful and I thought it might help me solve the mystery.

This book has been published so many times that there are just tons of fantastic covers for the book. Seriously google them. I can't believe I waited soo long to read this! Fantastic!